Tsunami Baby Hippo Befriends Tortoise

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2005-01-08 02:15pm

Tsunami hippo befriends tortoise

Owen and Mzee
A baby hippo rescued after floods in Kenya caused by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean has befriended a 100-year-old tortoise in a zoo.

The one-year-old hippo calf, who keepers have called Owen, was found alone and dehydrated by wildlife rangers near the ocean.

He was put in a wildlife enclosure near Mombassa, and soon became pals with the tortoise, who is a similar colour.

Park officials say they sleep and eat together, and have become inseparable.

Pauline Kimoti, from the park, said: "Since Owen arrived on 27 December the tortoise behaves like a mother to it.

"The hippo follows the tortoise around and licks his face."

The tortoise is called Mzee, which is Swahili for old man.

The park plan to place Owen with Cleo, a lonely female hippo, when he gets bigger.

Source

I dare you to not say "awww" at that.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2005-01-08 02:26pm

Awwww

Granted the touroise probably doesnt give a shit... But the Hippo needs a mother. Poor thing

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2005-01-08 02:47pm

Coolness.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2005-01-08 03:28pm

AWWWWWWWW

I smell a "milo and otis" sequel...

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2005-01-08 03:46pm

I dread the TV-movies that will come of this.

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-01-08 03:51pm

Here's my feel-good tsunami story of the day:

Family Dog A Quake Rescue Hero

A man screamed at his family to run as he spotted the colossal waves of the tsunami approaching from the rooftop of his home in India.

The command was simple but it presented his wife Sangeeta with a dilemma: she had three sons.

She grabbed the youngest two and ran – figuring the oldest, seven-year-old Dinakaran, had the best chance of outrunning the tsunami churning toward her home.

But Dinakaran didn’t follow. He headed for the safest place he knew, the small family hut just 130ft from the seashore.

Sangeeta thought she would never see him again.

The family dog saw to it that she did.

While water lapped at Sangeeta’s heels as she rushed up the hill, the scruffy yellow dog named Selvakumar ducked into the hut after Dinakaran.

Nipping and nudging, he did everything in his canine power to get the boy up the hill.

Sangeeta, who like many south Indians only uses one name, had no idea of the drama unfolding below. Once she had crossed the main road to safety she collapsed into tears, screaming over the loss of her eldest son.

“I had heard from others that the wall of my house had collapsed, I felt sure that my child had died,” said the 24-year-old.

Sangeeta’s family had always lived along the coast, just north of Pondicherry, a former French colony.

When Ramakrishnan saw the waves, he ran to the roof of the centre and shouted down to Sangeeta to flee. That’s when she made her agonising choice.

“He is somewhat older than the other two. I knew he would be able to run, so I grabbed the other two,” Sangeeta explained.

Dinakaran credits the dog with saving his life.

“That dog grabbed me by the collar of my shirt,” the boy said where the family is waiting for relief. “He dragged me out.”

Sangeeta said she wept with joy when she saw her son walking up to her, with Selvakumar by his side.

“That dog is my God,” said Sangeeta.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3952066

Mayabird · Post by **Mayabird** » 2005-01-08 05:23pm

“That dog is my God,” said Sangeeta.

So when she thanks God for a miracle, she's giving the proper party credit.

Very cool. I still wonder how a tortoise could act motherly to a hippo, though.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2005-01-08 05:53pm

i love animals and all, but i hate with a passion all of theses "miracle" survival stories about cute animals thatmake it to the press . You know what would have been a "miracle"? No fucking Tsunami.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2005-01-08 08:42pm

So was it a miracle the day before the tsunami? Was it fuck. It was just another ordinary day. Is today miraculous because another tsunami hasn't risen? Because that would be even worse. But I somehow doubt you'd consider it a miracle. We just have to find the best in a situation that we can, every time nature kicks us in the face.

Damaramu · Post by **Damaramu** » 2005-01-09 03:54am

By Crom that's cute.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2005-01-09 04:30am

Col. Crackpot wrote:i love animals and all, but i hate with a passion all of theses "miracle" survival stories about cute animals thatmake it to the press . You know what would have been a "miracle"? No fucking Tsunami.

It wasnt a "miracle" the dog was protecting one of its puppies, and to tortoise... well it just doesnt give a shit what is sleeping next to it.

BoredShirtless · Post by **BoredShirtless** » 2005-01-09 06:39am

Col. Crackpot wrote:i love animals and all, but i hate with a passion all of theses "miracle" survival stories about cute animals thatmake it to the press .

Why? What's the matter, did a dog lift a leg and piss on your head when you fell of your bike when a tyke?

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-09 07:42am

Alyrium Denryle wrote:It wasnt a "miracle" the dog was protecting one of its puppies, and to tortoise... well it just doesnt give a shit what is sleeping next to it.

Yeah, but why does the Hippo care about who he's hanging out with?

And... why did you get rid of froggy? Now you have a creepy cobra. It looks like you're going to kill me.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2005-01-09 08:15am

Stofsk wrote:
Alyrium Denryle wrote:It wasnt a "miracle" the dog was protecting one of its puppies, and to tortoise... well it just doesnt give a shit what is sleeping next to it.
Yeah, but why does the Hippo care about who he's hanging out with?

And... why did you get rid of froggy? Now you have a creepy cobra. It looks like you're going to kill me.

[Homer Simpson] AH! Cobras! Cobras! [/Homer Simpson]

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2005-01-09 09:07am

Stofsk wrote:
Alyrium Denryle wrote:It wasnt a "miracle" the dog was protecting one of its puppies, and to tortoise... well it just doesnt give a shit what is sleeping next to it.
Yeah, but why does the Hippo care about who he's hanging out with?

And... why did you get rid of froggy? Now you have a creepy cobra. It looks like you're going to kill me.

The cobra is cute.

I wish I had a pet snake. That would be the coolness.

Mayabird · Post by **Mayabird** » 2005-01-09 10:38am

Look people, my comment about the "miracle" involving the dog was a JOKE. I wasn't saying it was actually a miracle. I was making fun of those people who get rescued for whatever reason and instead of thanking their rescuers, thank God for a miracle that saved them. But for that woman, since her dog is her God, if she did thank God, she actually is giving credit to the proper party. Sheesh.

Robert Walper · Post by **Robert Walper** » 2005-01-09 11:07am

Very cute.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2005-01-09 01:09pm

Stofsk wrote:
Alyrium Denryle wrote:It wasnt a "miracle" the dog was protecting one of its puppies, and to tortoise... well it just doesnt give a shit what is sleeping next to it.

Yeah, but why does the Hippo care about who he's hanging out with?

And... why did you get rid of froggy? Now you have a creepy cobra. It looks The hippo cares because it is a reasonably intelligent mammal. And misses its mother. The toroise, being the same solor, provides some level of comfort for the orphaned animal.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2005-01-09 01:32pm

Mayabird wrote:Look people, my comment about the "miracle" involving the dog was a JOKE. I wasn't saying it was actually a miracle. I was making fun of those people who get rescued for whatever reason and instead of thanking their rescuers, thank God for a miracle that saved them. But for that woman, since her dog is her God, if she did thank God, she actually is giving credit to the proper party. Sheesh.

I got it the first time,

so it couldn't have been that far over people's heads.

I think things just diverged from your miracle joke into various rants basically tied to people grasping at the "good" things that happen during a disaster.

The hippo is cute and it is kind of cool that the dog save the kid's dumb ass.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2005-01-10 07:37am

Tortoise behaves like a mother? If the tortoise behaved like a true tortoise mother. She'd ignore the hippo completely and be about her merry way. Dont they simply lay eggs in a hole and give the eggs a "see ya later!"? Anyway, that is freakin' cute. dumb hippo doesn't realize the toroise is essentially a grass-consuming rock.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2005-01-10 02:26pm

Chardok wrote:Tortoise behaves like a mother? If the tortoise behaved like a true tortoise mother. She'd ignore the hippo completely and be about her merry way. Dont they simply lay eggs in a hole and give the eggs a "see ya later!"? Anyway, that is freakin' cute. dumb hippo doesn't realize the toroise is essentially a grass-consuming rock.

You are correct in that tortoises dont give a shit. Here are a list of reptiles that provide some measure of parental care.

Crocodilians(Provide protection for several months and will respond to the calls of their young for up to a year)

pythons(They keep their eggs warm by coiling around them and shivering, they can raise temperatures by 3 degrees in this way'

Rattleshakes: Protect their young for a few days

SOme amphibians provide some measure of parental care, but I wont go ito it.